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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · march · fan · spell · coach · wound

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. spell — a short time
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. spell — letters
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. march — the month
  14. wound — an injury
  15. last — finally
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. spell — magic
  18. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com